Inflatable ball



April 5, 1932. A. J. TURNER INFLATABLE BALL Filed Jan'. 4, 1930 T N E M E .C n W Patented Apr. 5, 1932 IUNIT'EDF STATES;

PATENT; OFFICE 'ARCHIBALD J'. TURNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WILSON-.WESTERN SPORTING- GOODS 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,' A, CORPORATION OF DELAWARE INFLATABLE BALL Application filed January 4, 1930. Serial No. 418,465.

' My invention relates to inflatable balls such as basket balls, footballs, and the like, comprising anouter casing usually of leather and aremovable inner bladder. Itsobject is to improve the anchorage whereby the bladder with its inflation stem is held against the inside of the cover in association with an inflation aperture through the cover.

By my invention I may dispense with the usual nut member carried on the inside of the casing for co-action' with the threaded valve stem carried by the bladder. Instead- I use a pair of opposed faces preferably rubber discsone carried by the bladder and the other on the inside of the cover. The

faces are adapted to, receive acoat of ad This ad hesive to cement them together. hesion is such that it holds the bladder infla-' tion stem firmly'against the inside of the cover but yet permits the faces being readily torn apart when the bladder-is to be removed from the cover. I

Another feature of myxinvention is a tab or finger grip for the bladder-carried rubber disc member, whereby it may be pulled away from the mating member on the casing and against the adhesion afio'rded by the cement, without danger of tearing the bladder-carried patch away from the bladder. j

To prevent the cover-carried disc member from'being torn away from the cover,;I preferably use an annular stitching through: the disc member and the cover. And to prevent the possibility ofv the stitching. tearing through the rubber disc, I prefer to reinforce the disc by a layer of fabric imbedded in the rubber. I i

Among the advantages of my invention are these: As. no inter-engaging metal parts are 40 used for the anchorage, there is no danger of the anchorage becoming defective or inoperative due to rusting or corroding caused-by moisture which frequently finds its way through the inflation aperture-especially in "footballs. Similarly the anchorage cannot beso easily impaired by mechanical injury to the parts. By eliminating the cover-carried metallic nut member Iavoid the trouble of chafing'of the leather or rubber parts against the metal. The cemented anchorage precludes twisting or turning of the bladder, which often occurs with the screw'type anchorage by the time the bladder has been inserted and thelacing completed. The single movement of pressing the two cemented disc surfaces together is quicker and simpler than giving the bladder several turns, as is required with the screw type anchorage. Similarly the removal of the bladder is simplified to a single movement. Vhile it is preferable to use a bladder made with a patch member vulcanized thereto, for the specific purpose of my invention, reasonably satisfactory resultscan be had? in an emergency for example-by the use of a standard bladder made for the screw type of anchorage, the wet cement being applied to the relatively thin patch member customarily employed about the protruding i threaded valve stem. By my invention I substitute a considerable'thickness of resilient cushioning rubber in place of the usual metallic nut mem-' her which has the objection of retarding, and disturbing the accuracy of, the rebound.

a Other object-s,:features and advantages of my invention are set forth in the following description of a specific embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a basket ball the cover of which is broken away to disclose the operation of anchoring the bladder to r the cover adjacent theinsertion opening, according'to my invention;

, Fig.2 isa transversesection taken on the line 22 of Fig.1 after the anchorage has i been completed; and g Fig. 3,is a view taken along the cementing. line 3-3 of Fig.2, showing the elevation of the valve stem carrying, portionof the blad- 9o der.

The usual leather cover 10 in the embodiment here shown has the customary laced insertion slit 11 and spaced therefrom and preferably at the opposite side of the wall (for purposes of balance) a small inflation opening 12 of approximately the diameter of the usual valve stem to afford access for the eupling end of the air pump. The cover may carry the usual lining A.

A disc 13 of rubber preferably having an intermediate layer 14 of fabric embedded in it, is secured preferably by the annular stitching 15 to the inside of the cover (and lining if any) at the region of the inflation opening 12. The rubber disc 18 has a central opening 16 registering with the opening 12 of the casing.

The bladder 17 carries a suitable inflation opening and inflation valve which is preferably a valve of the Schrader type enclosed within a tubular valve stem 18 providing the inflation opening for the bladder and provided at its outer end with internal threads for the reception of the usual air pump couling. The valve stem 18 is mounted on the bladder wall by an inwardly extending neck member 19. A second rubber disc 20 is carried on the outside of the bladder wall concentrically with the valve stem. The rubber disc 20 has a central aperture through which the outer end of the valve stem extends. The outer end of the valve stem preferably protrudes beyond the disc 20 so that it may enter the central opening 16 in the cover-carried rubber disc 13.

I prefer to vulcanize the neck member 19, the bladder wall and the rubber disc 20 into virtually a unitary piece.

The actual anchorage of the bladder to the casing is, as aforestated, by cementing together the mating faces of the cover-carried rubber disc 13 and the bladder-carried rubber disc 20, which are preferably of the same diameter. This is conveniently done by applying the usual wet rubber cement. \Vhen this cement sets the bladder and its valve stem are amply anchored in position in association with the inflation aperture 12 of the cover. The cementing will not be torn away by the strain exerted by the valve stem in attaching the pump. In fact, the ball may be laced up and inflated without waiting for the cement to set if care is taken to screw the coupling of the air pump into the threaded nut of the valve stem before the discs are to full pressure, the pressure on the inside of the bladder will sufficiently hold the cemented parts in contact to permit the twisting strain incidental to unscrewing the pump coupling from the valve stem.

Since the bladder-carried rubber disc 20 is vulcanized to the bladder, and the cover-carried rubber disc is securely sewn to the cover, the most readily yieldable point of connection between the cover and the bladder proper will be along the cemented surfaces of the mating rubber discs. Furthermore, any tendency for the bladder-carried rubber disc 20 to peel off the bladder wall during the removal of the bladder from the anchorage may be minimized by providing the disc with integral tab extensions 20A which are preferably free from the bladder wall and may be grasped by the fingers in pulling apart the cemented discs.

If the valve stem 18 is so mounted in the bladder that its outer end protrudes beyond the cementing disc 20, it forms a convenient centering device for aligning the two discs and for aligning the valve stem with the insertion opening 12 in the cover. This is especially desirable in instances where, as in the plan of Fig. 1, the inflation aperture is at the side of the cover opposite from the lacing where the parts are hidden from the operators view.

It will be understood that it is not necessary to have the cementing together of the anchoring patches as perfect or strong a securemcnt as, for example, a patch upon a punctured inner tube of an automobile tire. In fact, it is preferable to have the discs cemented to such a manner that they may be more readily torn apart, thereby making it easier to remove the bladder and minimizing the danger of tearing either of the rubber discs from its support. A relatively interior cementing of the patches will amply suffice for the necessary anchorage.

\Vhile I have described and disclosed this embodiment of my invention, I contemplate that changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An inflatable ball comprising a leather cover, a separate removable rubber bladder therefor, a metallic valve stem carried by the bladder and extending inwardly thereof to form an inflation passage for the bladder, an inflation valve carried in the stem, :1 rubber disc secured to the bladder as a part thereof and disposed about the valve stem, the outer end of the valve stem protruding beyond the disc, a lifting tab integral with the disc and extending there-beyond free from the bladder, a closable bladder insertion opening in the cover, an inflation opening in the cover spaced from the bladder insertion opening of substantially the diameter of the bladder stem to aflord access of the coupling of an air pump to the stem, a second rubber disc, of substantially the diameter of. the bladder- -arried rubber disc, secured to the inside of the cover by annular stitching passing through the cover and the second disc, there being a layer of reinforcing fabric imbedded vin the second or cover-carried rubber disc for preventing the stitching tearing through the rubber, the cover-carried disc having a cen- 5 tral aperture in registry with the bladder inflation opening and adapted to receive the protruding end of the valve stem, the outer adhering less securely than the attachment of the discs to their respective supports,

whereby upon pulling the bladder apart from the cover, the separation will come along the cemented surfaces.

2. An inflatable ball comprising a cover, a bladder insertion opening, a bladder inflation aperture spaced therefrom, and a bladder having an inwardly'extending valve stem carrying an inflation check valve and means i for anchoring the bladder on the inside of the cover with the stem in association with the inflation aperture comprising a pair of mating patch members having central apertures in registry with the inflation aperture, one carried by the bladder and the other on the inside of the cover, the mating patch members being cemented together to'effect a securement more easily ruptured than the securement of the respective patch'members to the cover and bladder, whereby the bladder maybe pulled away from the inside of the cover with the parting along the cemented faces of the patch members. 7

3. An inflatable ball comprising a cover having a bladder insertion opening and an inflation aperture spaced therefrom, a rubber disc member secured to the inside of the cover and havin a central aperture in regis try withthe inflation aperture, and a separate removable bladder comprising an inflation valve and a stem therefor extending inwardly through the wall of the bladder and protruding outwardly there-beyond for reception by the central opening of the covercarried disc to align the valve stem with the inflation aperture, and a mating disc carried against the wall of the "bladder and backwardly from the protruding end of the stem, the exposed faces of the cover-carried disc and the bladder-carried disc presenting opposed broad, substantially smooth, readily severabl-e, cementing surfaces. r a 4. An inflatable ball comprising a cover having a bladder insertion opening and an inflation opening spaced therefrom and a removable bladder having an inflation stem protrudingbeyond the wall; thereof, means carried on the inside of the cover presenting a recess for the reception of the protruding stem to'align it with the inflation aperture, and means forming opposed matingcementing surfaces, onecarried on the bladder and the other on the cover surrounding the protruding stem and the recess respectively, 7 and providing a readily severable cemente securement between said surfaces.

' 5. An inflatable ball comprising a leather cover having a bladder insertion opening and an inflationaperture, a rubber patch-member having a fabric imbedded therein stitched tothe inside of the leather cover with a centralopening in registry with the inflation aperture, a removablebladder having an inflation valve mounted in an inflation stem carried by the bladderand extending through the wallthereof with the outer end of the stemprotruding beyond the wall for reception in the central opening of the cover-car ried patch member to align the stem with the inflation aperture, the bladder being anchored to the cover-carried patch member by a readily severable cementing to the inward face of the patch member.

6. An inflatable ball comprising in combination a cover having a bladder insertion aperture, a bladder inflation aperture spaced therefrom, a separate removable bladder having an inflation stem, means for detachably anchoring the bladder on the inside of the cover with the stem'in association with the inflation aperture, comprising patch members fixed on the inside of the cover and on the bladder respectively and secured by a bladder on the inside of the cover with the 1 stem in association with the inflation aperture comprising a cementreceiving portion fixed on the inside of the cover and a mating V cement receiving portion fixed on the bladder and coactingmeans carried by the bladder and ball casing for centering the stem upon the inflation aperture, said portions beingsecuredtogether by' a sever-able cementing'of such relatively weak effectiveness that,

in pulling the bladder from the Coven-severance will occur at such cementing.

8, An inflatable ball comprising in combination a cover having a bladder insertion opening and a bladder inflation aperture spaced therefrom, a separate removable rubber bladder carrying an inwardlyextending rubber. stem, a metalinflation valve stem within the rubber stem, and means for detach-.1 i

ably anchoring the bladder to the inside of the cover comprising cement receiving portions on the bladder and cover, said portions being secured together by a severable cementing of such relatively Weak efiectiveness, that in pulling the bladder from the cover, severance will occur at such cementing, the valve stem being secured to the rubber stem except at the outer end of the valve stem, whereby, in attaching the bladder to the cover, the end of the valve stem may be projected into the cover aperture to center the valve stem at the aperture.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 28th day of December, 1929,

ARCI-IIBALD J. TURNER 

